On 24 September 2026 the Court of Justice of the EU ruled in Steizer (C-176\/25) that the formal validity of a copyright assignment is a contractual matter governed by the law designated under the Rome I Regulation, even when a third party challenges it in infringement proceedings. The copyright assignment applicable law is therefore the law of the contract, not the law of each country where protection is claimed. It matters to any company acquiring rights from authors abroad.<\/p>\n
According to the judgment in Case C-176\/25<\/a> (ECLI:EU:C:2026:785), a German online seller of car floor mats hired a Polish photographer between 2014 and 2018 on the basis of oral agreements. The photos were taken in his studio in Poland and handed over on a USB stick. Nothing was signed, and no governing law was agreed. When a competitor reused some of the photos on eBay, the seller sued in Germany.<\/p>\n The competitor argued that the assignment was governed by Polish law, which in its submission requires exclusive rights to be assigned in writing, so the seller had no standing. The seller argued for German law as the law of the country of protection, which in her submission imposes no formal requirement. The Higher Regional Court of D\u00fcsseldorf asked the CJEU which regulation decides.<\/p>\n The Court answered that, in an infringement action by a third party, the formal validity of the assignment between the claimant and the author is a contractual matter, so the applicable law must be determined under Rome I. Advocate General Emiliou had reached the same conclusion in his Opinion of 23 April 2026.<\/p>\n Territoriality survives: national copyright laws still govern protection, and the infringement is still assessed under the law of the country of protection (paragraphs 54 and 55).<\/p>\nWhy Rome I and not the law of the country of protection?<\/h2>\n
\n
How Rome I determines the copyright assignment applicable law<\/h2>\n